Measurements of the production cross section of a $Z$ boson in association with jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV are presented, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.16 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in 2015. Inclusive and differential cross sections are measured for events containing a $Z$ boson decaying to electrons or muons and produced in association with up to seven jets with $p_T > 30$ GeV and $|y| <2.5$. Predictions from different Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order and next-to-leading-order matrix elements for up to two additional partons interfaced with parton shower and fixed-order predictions at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order are compared with the measured cross sections. Good agreement within the uncertainties is observed for most of the modelled quantities, in particular with the generators which use next-to-leading-order matrix elements and the more recent next-to-next-to-leading-order fixed-order predictions.

The cross-section for the production of two jets in association with a leptonically decaying Z boson ($Zjj$) is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The electroweak $Zjj$ cross-section is extracted in a fiducial region chosen to enhance the electroweak contribution relative to the dominant Drell-Yan $Zjj$ process, which is constrained using a data-driven approach. The measured fiducial electroweak cross-section is $\sigma^{Zjj}_{EW}= 119\pm 16 (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 20 (\mathrm{syst.})\pm 2 (\mathrm{lumi.})$ for dijet invariant mass greater than 250 GeV, and $34.2\pm 5.8 (\mathrm{stat.})\pm 5.5 (\mathrm{syst.})\pm 0.7 (\mathrm{lumi.})$ for dijet invariant mass greater than 1 TeV. Standard Model predictions are in agreement with the measurements. The inclusive $Zjj$ cross-section is also measured in six different fiducial regions with varying contributions from electroweak and Drell-Yan $Zjj$ production.

Measurements of differential cross sections of top quark pair production in association with jets by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC are presented. The measurements are performed as functions of the top quark transverse momentum, the transverse momentum of the top quark-antitop quark system and the out-of-plane transverse momentum using data from $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The top quark pair events are selected in the lepton (electron or muon) + jets channel. The measured cross sections, which are compared to several predictions, allow a detailed study of top quark production.

Measurements of differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production in fiducial phase-spaces are presented as a function of top-quark and $t\bar{t}$ system kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV. The data set corresponds to an integrated luminosity of $3.2$ fb${}^{-1}$, recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events with exactly one electron or muon and at least two jets in the final state are used for the measurement. Two separate selections are applied that each focus on different top-quark momentum regions, referred to as resolved and boosted topologies of the $t\bar{t}$ final state. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations by means of calculated $\chi^2$ and $p$-values.

An observation of electroweak $W^{\pm}Z$ production in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions is presented. The data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 and 2016 at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. Events containing three identified leptons, either electrons or muons, and two jets are selected. The electroweak production of $W^{\pm}Z$ bosons in association with two jets is measured with an observed significance of 5.3 standard deviations. A fiducial cross-section for electroweak production including interference effects is measured to be $\sigma_{WZjj\mathrm{-EW}} = 0.57 \; ^{+ 0.14} _{- 0.13} \,(\mathrm{stat.}) \; ^{+ 0.07} _{- 0.06} \,(\mathrm{syst.}) \; \mathrm{fb}$. Total and differential fiducial cross-sections of the sum of $W^\pm Z jj$ electroweak and strong productions for several kinematic observables are also measured.

A search for electroweak production of supersymmetric particles is performed in two-lepton and three-lepton final states using recursive jigsaw reconstruction. The search uses data collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment in $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV proton--proton collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. Chargino-neutralino pair production, with decays via W/Z bosons, is studied in final states involving leptons and jets and missing transverse momentum for scenarios with large and intermediate mass-splittings between the parent particle and lightest supersymmetric particle, as well as for the scenario where this mass splitting is close to the mass of the Z boson. The latter case is challenging since the vector bosons are produced with kinematic properties that are similar to those in Standard Model processes. Results are found to be compatible with the Standard Model expectations in the signal regions targeting large and intermediate mass-splittings, and chargino-neutralino masses up to 600 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level for a massless lightest supersymmetric particle. Excesses of data above the expected background are found in the signal regions targeting low mass-splittings, and the largest local excess amounts to 3.0 standard deviations.

This paper presents measurements of $W^{\pm}Z$ production cross sections in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were collected in 2015 and 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. The $W^{\pm}Z$ candidate events are reconstructed using leptonic decay modes of the gauge bosons into electrons and muons. The measured inclusive cross section in the detector fiducial region for a single leptonic decay mode is $\sigma_{W^\pm Z \rightarrow \ell^{'} \nu \ell \ell}^{\textrm{fid.}} = 63.7 \pm 1.0$ (stat.) $\pm 2.3$ (syst.) $\pm 1.4$ (lumi.) fb, reproduced by the next-to-next-to-leading-order Standard Model prediction of $61.5^{+1.4}_{-1.3}$ fb. Cross sections for $W^+Z$ and $W^-Z$ production and their ratio are presented as well as differential cross sections for several kinematic observables. An analysis of angular distributions of leptons from decays of $W$ and $Z$ bosons is performed for the first time in pair-produced events in hadronic collisions, and integrated helicity fractions in the detector fiducial region are measured for the $W$ and $Z$ bosons separately. Of particular interest, the longitudinal helicity fraction of pair-produced vector bosons is also measured.

Measurements of jet activity in top-quark pair events produced in proton--proton collisions are presented, using 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are chosen by requiring an opposite-charge $e\mu$ pair and two $b$-tagged jets in the final state. The normalised differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as functions of additional-jet multiplicity and transverse momentum, $p_{\mathrm T}$. The fraction of signal events that do not contain additional jet activity in a given rapidity region, the gap fraction, is measured as a function of the $p_{\mathrm T}$ threshold for additional jets, and is also presented for different invariant mass regions of the $e\mu b\bar{b}$ system. All measurements are corrected for detector effects and presented as particle-level distributions compared to predictions with different theoretical approaches for QCD radiation. While the kinematics of the jets from top-quark decays are described well, the generators show differing levels of agreement with the measurements of observables that depend on the production of additional jets.

The production of exclusive $\gamma \gamma \rightarrow \mu^+ \mu^-$ events in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. The measurement is performed for a dimuon invariant mass of 12 GeV $<m_{\mu^+\mu^-}<$ 70 GeV. The integrated cross-section is determined within a fiducial acceptance region of the ATLAS detector and differential cross-sections are measured as a function of the dimuon invariant mass. The results are compared to theoretical predictions that include corrections for absorptive effects.

Inclusive jet and dijet cross-sections are measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measurement uses a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$ recorded in 2015 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Jets are identified using the anti-${k_t}$ algorithm with a radius parameter value of $R=0.4$. The inclusive jet cross-sections are measured double-differentially as a function of the jet transverse momentum, covering the range from 100 GeV to 3.5 TeV, and the absolute jet rapidity up to $|y|=3$. The double-differential dijet production cross-sections are presented as a function of the dijet mass, covering the range from 300 GeV to 9 TeV, and the half absolute rapidity separation between the two leading jets within $|y|<3$, $y*$, up to $y*=3$. Next-to-leading-order, and next-to-next-to-leading-order for the inclusive jet measurement, perturbative QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative and electroweak effects are compared to the measured cross-sections.

Measurements of $ZZ$ production in the $\ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ channel in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV center-of-mass energy at the Large Hadron Collider are presented. The data correspond to 36.1 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ of collisions collected by the ATLAS experiment in 2015 and 2016. Here $\ell$ and $\ell'$ stand for electrons or muons. Integrated and differential $ZZ \to \ell^{+}\ell^{-}\ell^{\prime +}\ell^{\prime -}$ cross sections with $Z \to \ell^+\ell^-$ candidate masses in the range of 66 GeV to 116 GeV are measured in a fiducial phase space corresponding to the detector acceptance and corrected for detector effects. The differential cross sections are presented in bins of twenty observables, including several that describe the jet activity. The integrated cross section is also extrapolated to a total phase space and to all Standard-Model decays of $Z$ bosons with mass between 66 GeV and 116 GeV, resulting in a value of $17.3 \pm 0.9$ [$\pm 0.6$ (stat.) $\pm 0.5$ (syst.) $\pm 0.6$ (lumi.)] pb. The measurements are found to be in good agreement with the Standard-Model predictions. A search for neutral triple gauge couplings is performed using the transverse momentum distribution of the leading $Z$-boson candidate. No evidence for such couplings is found and exclusion limits are set on their parameters.

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti-$k_t$ algorithm with radius parameter $R=0.4$ and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon-jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon-jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from SHERPA and PYTHIA as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from JETPHOX and SHERPA are compared to the measurements.

Searches for scalar leptoquarks pair-produced in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider are performed by the ATLAS experiment. A data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ is used. Final states containing two electrons or two muons and two or more jets are studied, as are states with one electron or muon, missing transverse momentum and two or more jets. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. The observed and expected lower limits on the leptoquark mass at 95% confidence level extend up to 1.29 TeV and 1.23 TeV for first- and second-generation leptoquarks, respectively, as postulated in the minimal Buchm\"uller-R\"uckl-Wyler model, assuming a branching ratio into a charged lepton and a quark of 50%. In addition, measurements of particle-level fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for the $Z\rightarrow ee$, $Z\rightarrow\mu\mu$ and $t\bar{t}$ processes in several regions related to the search control regions. Predictions from a range of generators are compared with the measurements, and good agreement is seen for many of the observables. However, the predictions for the $Z\rightarrow\ell\ell$ measurements in observables sensitive to jet energies disagree with the data.

This Letter presents the observation and measurement of electroweak production of a same-sign $W$ boson pair in association with two jets using 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data recorded at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is performed in the detector fiducial phase-space region, defined by the presence of two same-sign leptons, electron or muon, and at least two jets with a large invariant mass and rapidity difference. A total of 122 candidate events are observed for a background expectation of $69 \pm 7$ events, corresponding to an observed signal significance of 6.5 standard deviations. The measured fiducial signal cross section is $\sigma^{\mathrm {fid.}}=2.89^{+0.51}_{-0.48} \mathrm{(stat.)} ^{+0.29}_{-0.28} \mathrm{(syst.)}$ fb.

A measurement of the four-lepton invariant mass spectrum is made with the ATLAS detector, using an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider. The differential cross-section is measured for events containing two same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pairs. It exhibits a rich structure, with different mass regions dominated in the Standard Model by single $Z$ boson production, Higgs boson production, and $Z$ boson pair production, and non-negligible interference effects at high invariant masses. The measurement is compared with state-of-the-art Standard Model calculations, which are found to be consistent with the data. These calculations are used to interpret the data in terms of $gg\rightarrow ZZ \rightarrow 4\ell$ and $Z \rightarrow 4\ell$ subprocesses, and to place constraints on a possible contribution from physics beyond the Standard Model.

The production of $Z$ bosons in association with a high-energy photon ($Z\gamma$ production) is studied in the neutrino decay channel of the $Z$ boson using $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV. The analysis uses a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$ collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. Candidate $Z\gamma$ events with invisible decays of the $Z$ boson are selected by requiring significant transverse momentum ($p_{T}$) of the dineutrino system in conjunction with a single isolated photon with large transverse energy ($E_{T}$). The rate of $Z\gamma$ production is measured as a function of photon $E_{T}$, dineutrino system $p_{T}$ and jet multiplicity. Evidence of anomalous triple gauge-boson couplings is sought in $Z\gamma$ production with photon $E_{T}$ greater than 600 GeV. No excess is observed relative to the Standard Model expectation, and upper limits are set on the strength of $ZZ\gamma$ and $Z\gamma\gamma$ couplings.

The fragmentation of high-energy gluons at small opening angles is largely unconstrained by present measurements. Gluon splitting to $b$-quark pairs is a unique probe into the properties of gluon fragmentation because identified $b$-tagged jets provide a proxy for the quark daughters of the initial gluon. In this study, key differential distributions related to the $g\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ process are measured using 33 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2016. Jets constructed from charged-particle tracks, clustered with the anti-$k_t$ jet algorithm with radius parameter $R = 0.2$, are used to probe angular scales below the $R=0.4$ jet radius. The observables are unfolded to particle level in order to facilitate direct comparisons with predictions from present and future simulations. Multiple significant differences are observed between the data and parton shower Monte Carlo predictions, providing input to improve these predictions of the main source of background events in analyses involving boosted Higgs bosons decaying into $b$-quarks.

Differential cross-section measurements are presented for the electroweak production of two jets in association with a $Z$ boson. These measurements are sensitive to the vector-boson fusion production mechanism and provide a fundamental test of the gauge structure of the Standard Model. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data collected by ATLAS at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV and with an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The differential cross-sections are measured in the $Z\rightarrow \ell^+\ell^-$ decay channel ($\ell=e,\mu$) as a function of four observables: the dijet invariant mass, the rapidity interval spanned by the two jets, the signed azimuthal angle between the two jets, and the transverse momentum of the dilepton pair. The data are corrected for the effects of detector inefficiency and resolution and are sufficiently precise to distinguish between different state-of-the-art theoretical predictions calculated using Powheg+Pythia8, Herwig7+Vbfnlo and Sherpa 2.2. The differential cross-sections are used to search for anomalous weak-boson self-interactions using a dimension-six effective field theory. The differential cross-section as a function of the signed azimuthal angle between the two jets is found to be particularly sensitive to the interference between the Standard Model and dimension-six scattering amplitudes and provides a direct test of charge-conjugation and parity invariance in the weak-boson self-interactions.

This paper presents a measurement of the production cross-section of a $Z$ boson in association with $b$-jets, in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.6 fb$^{-1}$. Inclusive and differential cross-sections are measured for events containing a $Z$ boson decaying into electrons or muons and produced in association with at least one or at least two $b$-jets with transverse momentum $p_\textrm{T}>$ 20 GeV and rapidity $|y| < 2.5$. Predictions from several Monte Carlo generators based on leading-order (LO) or next-to-leading-order (NLO) matrix elements interfaced with a parton-shower simulation and testing different flavour schemes for the choice of initial-state partons are compared with measured cross-sections. The 5-flavour number scheme predictions at NLO accuracy agree better with data than 4-flavour number scheme ones. The 4-flavour number scheme predictions underestimate data in events with at least one b-jet.

The prevalence of hadronic jets at the LHC requires that a deep understanding of jet formation and structure is achieved in order to reach the highest levels of experimental and theoretical precision. There have been many measurements of jet substructure at the LHC and previous colliders, but the targeted observables mix physical effects from various origins. Based on a recent proposal to factorize physical effects, this Letter presents a double-differential cross-section measurement of the Lund jet plane using 139 fb$^{-1}$ of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector using jets with transverse momentum above 675 GeV. The measurement uses charged particles to achieve a fine angular resolution and is corrected for acceptance and detector effects. Several parton shower Monte Carlo models are compared with the data. No single model is found to be in agreement with the measured data across the entire plane.

This Letter presents a normalized differential cross-section measurement in a fiducial phase-space region where interference effects between top-quark pair production and associated production of a single top quark with a $W$ boson and a $b$-quark are significant. Events with exactly two leptons ($ee$, $\mu\mu$, or $e\mu$) and two $b$-tagged jets that satisfy a multi-particle invariant mass requirement are selected from $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data taken at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2015 and 2016. The results are compared with predictions from simulations using various strategies for the interference. The standard prescriptions for interference modeling are significantly different from each other but are within $2\sigma$ of the data. State-of-the-art predictions that naturally incorporate interference effects provide the best description of the data in the measured region of phase space most sensitive to these effects. These results provide an important constraint on interference models and will guide future model development and tuning.

A measurement of fiducial and differential cross-sections for $W^+W^-$ production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $36.1$ fb$^{-1}$ is presented. Events with one electron and one muon are selected, corresponding to the decay of the diboson system as $WW\rightarrow e^{\pm}\nu\mu^{\mp}\nu$. To suppress top-quark background, events containing jets with a transverse momentum exceeding 35 GeV are not included in the measurement phase space. The fiducial cross-section, six differential distributions and the cross-section as a function of the jet-veto transverse momentum threshold are measured and compared with several theoretical predictions. Constraints on anomalous electroweak gauge boson self-interactions are also presented in the framework of a dimension-six effective field theory.

This paper presents measurements of $t\bar{t}$ production in association with additional $b$-jets in $pp$ collisions at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb$^{-1}$. Fiducial cross-section measurements are performed in the dilepton and lepton-plus-jets $t\bar{t}$ decay channels. Results are presented at particle level in the form of inclusive cross-sections of $t\bar{t}$ final states with three and four $b$-jets as well as differential cross-sections as a function of global event properties and properties of $b$-jet pairs. The measured inclusive fiducial cross-sections generally exceed the $t\bar{t}b\bar{b}$ predictions from various next-to-leading-order matrix element calculations matched to a parton shower but are compatible within the total uncertainties. The experimental uncertainties are smaller than the uncertainties in the predictions. Comparisons of state-of-the-art theoretical predictions with the differential measurements are shown and good agreement with data is found for most of them.

This paper presents measurements of charged-particle distributions sensitive to the properties of the underlying event in events containing a $Z$ boson decaying into a muon pair. The data were obtained using the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb$^{-1}$. Distributions of the charged-particle multiplicity and of the charged-particle transverse momentum are measured in regions of the azimuth defined relative to the $Z$ boson direction. The measured distributions are compared with the predictions of various Monte Carlo generators which implement different underlying-event models. The Monte Carlo model predictions qualitatively describe the data well, but with some significant discrepancies.

A measurement of jet substructure variables is presented using data collected in 2016 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC with proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Large-radius jets groomed with the trimming and soft-drop algorithms are studied. Dedicated event selections are used to study jets produced by light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and $W$ bosons. The variables measured are sensitive to pronged substructure, and therefore are typically used for tagging jets from boosted massive particles. These include the energy correlation functions and the $N$-subjettiness variables. The number of subjets and the Les Houches angularity are also considered. The distributions of the substructure variables, corrected for detector effects, are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators. They are also compared between the large-radius jets originating from light quarks or gluons, and hadronically decaying top quarks and $W$ bosons.